Tsuki no tame hiru to omou ga kai naki ni shibashi kumorite yoru o shirase yo

月のため昼と思ふがかひなきに
しばし曇りて夜を知らせよ

Roma-ji: Tsuki no tame hiru to omou ga kai naki ni shibashi kumorite yoru o shirase yo
English Translation: Since because of you,
it would seem as if it's day,
and all to no end,
cloud yourself a little while,
let me know that it is night.
Meaning: Since because of you it seems like day, and that would rob the night of its worth, cloud over for a while and let me know that it is night.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 358

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When I composed many poems on the moon"
This is the twenty-second poem in the moon series. If the moon is so bright that it seems like day, there is no point in seeing the moon at night; so, moon, cloud over for a while and let me know it is night. The moon's brightness is praised by exaggeration, so great that day and night cannot be told apart.
Against the dislike of clouds that hide the moon so far, this poem reverses the idea and asks the moon itself to cloud over. From here to 364, poems that mistake the moonlit night for day continue.

First line, “tsuki no tame”: because of the moon.
Second line, “hiru to omou ga”: that it is taken for day.
Third line, “kai naki ni”: since it is to no purpose, there being no point in watching the moon at night.
Fourth line, “shibashi kumorite”: clouding over for a while, asking the moon to cloud itself.
Fifth line, “yoru o shirase yo”: yo is the imperative ending, let me know it is night, calling to the moon.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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